No matter what they tried, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies couldn’t calm a girl who was crying hysterically outside her high school. That is, until Ben arrived.
Ben is the department’s labradoodle, one-half of a K-9 unit that devotes countless hours to keeping people safe. That day Ben jumped into action by being calm and cuddly.
“She stopped crying, started smiling and laughing. All of a sudden started talking, when for 20 minutes prior to that, she wouldn’t. Just to see the demeanor of this kid change in a matter of seconds, we couldn’t do it over the course of 20 minutes, but the dog was able to do it,” said Deputy Tony Psaila as he described the moment.
Ben and his handler, Deputy Danielle Martinez, have been working together for the past two years. Ben was the first therapy dog the Sheriff’s Office employed.
He joined a department with traditional police dogs, such as Titan, a German Shepherd. Together, they display the two sides of police work: community engagement and keeping everyone safe.
Martinez originally wanted a German Shepherd, but did not meet the space requirements at home.
“It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I also love working with kids, and I wanted to work as a school resource officer. So during that time, they were working on having a school resource officer position opening with the therapy dog, and it just fell into my hands, and I was so grateful for it,” Martinez said.
Ben and Martinez have created the path for two other therapy dogs, Teddy and Maverick, to join the Sheriff’s Office.
Ben and Martinez have traveled the US, attending courses offered by POST, or Peace Officer Standards and Training, which oversees the certifications for law enforcement officers in the state of California.
“What I have learned is that the therapy dogs do fall under the K-9 guidelines per POST, which means we are held to the same exact standard as the traditional K-9,” Martinez said.
As a part of his duties, Ben also gets to listen as kids read to him.
“I started at one of my elementary schools, where we do a reading program every other week. It gives them a safe environment, someone who’s going to listen to them, someone who’s not going to laugh at them if they make a mistake,” Martinez said.
Recently, Ben and Martinez have been helping in court trials. Victims of sexual assault have the right to have a support dog with them in court.
“I’ve seen it firsthand how much Ben or any of the other dogs can help in such a traumatic experience,” Martinez said.
Ben and Martinez have grown a unique bond that many of the handlers have with their dogs.
“We are best friends. I consider him my son. I call him my son. I spoil him like he’s my son. He’s become part of my family,” Martinez said.
These dogs are not just a tool at work, but stay with these officers 24/7, no matter the circumstance.
“You can’t just let anyone watch the dog or handle the dog. It’s really pretty much you and the dog. So there’s a lot of coordination that goes into the rest of your life when you have the dog, and that takes a lot of adjustments,” said Kayla Quinlan, K-9 Zorro’s handler who specializes in narcotics detection at the San Mateo Police Department.
Although policing has shifted towards more community engagement and the use of therapy dogs, there is still a high demand for traditional K9s like Titan.
Titan is a German Shepherd whose handler is Psaila. They have been working together for two and a half years.
Psaila retired from the Belmont Police Department after working there for 32 years. He then came to the Sheriff’s Office, where he has been working for the past four years. He wanted to be a K-9 handler in Belmont, but it wasn’t possible.
When Psaila came to the Sheriff’s Office, he mentioned being a handler, and later on, it became a reality.
Titan came from the Czech Republic with some prior basic training. This created a unique challenge for Psaila. He had to learn a whole new language to communicate with his dog.
This turned out to be a good thing because when working in the field, very few people can communicate with Titan. If a scenario presented itself where Psaila was unable to communicate with Titan or wasn’t around, other K-9 handlers who know Czech would be able to manage Titan.
Titan is a multidisciplinary dog, meaning he is trained in a variety of different things.
“They do apprehension work, tracking, and some sort of detection work: either bomb or drugs. Titan does all three, and he’s a bomb dog,” Psaila said.
The first thing Titan and Psaila did was go to a month-long apprehension school.
“We learned how to utilize the dog to find people who are hiding, maybe lying in wait type situations, and we really work on their obedience,” Psaila said.
Next up was tracking school for two weeks.
“If we have lost children, lost adults with special needs, whatever it might be, we can actually find them if we have an idea of where they were last seen and if we have a scent article that we can use,” Psaila said.
Although Titan’s work is impressive, the Sheriff’s Office also has a bloodhound that does not need a scent article. He can go straight from where the individual was last seen.
Finally, Titan’s forte, bomb detection.
“It’s a very long, tedious school, because when you’re doing bomb detection, you really have to know what you’re doing; one mistake could mean a lot to everybody,” Psaila said.
They train eight hours a day for six weeks using several different odors utilized in bomb making.
Once Titan was certified, he was permitted to perform bomb sweeps. These sweeps can occur when dignitaries come to town, special events, parades, or even the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.
Following certification, training continues as the skills they learn are perishable. The Sheriff’s Office K-9 handlers train as a group once a week for five hours. Individually, they train a minimum of two hours each week.
Psaila and Titan will soon be at Levi’s Stadium, helping out the Santa Clara County with the 2028 Olympics and the FIFA World Cup approaching.
Although his job description positions Titan to be aggressive, a duty he proudly fulfills, Titan is extremely friendly.
“He loves everybody, and that’s not always the case. I just got kind of lucky with that, and he is part of the family,” Psaila said.
